What was the relationship between Jesus and King David?
Both Matthew and and Luke trace Jesus’s lineage to David, so He is a descendant of the king of Israel. (See Matthew 1:1-17, Luke 3:23-38.)
It was apparently well-understood during Jesus’s lifetime that the Messiah would come from the house of David. When the people saw the miracles He performed, they asked, “Is not this the Son of David?” to the consternation of their leaders (Matthew 12:23). Multiple people addressed Him as, “Thou Son of David,” when they asked Him to perform miracles. (See Matthew 9:27, Matthew 15:22, Matthew 20:30-31.) And during His final, triumphal entry into Jerusalem, the people shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David” (Matthew 21:9, 15, Mark 11:9-10). So it is accurate to say that Jesus was the offspring of David.
But in another important sense, Jesus was actually David’s progenitor, the source of his life, not merely a beneficiary of it. We know that He created the earth under the direction of His Father, so it is accurate to call Him “the very Eternal Father of heaven and of earth, and all things which in them are.” (See John 1:1-3, Hebrews 1:1-2, Mosiah 3:8.) We also know that He has made it possible for us to be spiritually reborn, becoming His “sons and daughters.” (See Mosiah 5:7.) He is therefore the source of spiritual life for all of us. So it would also be accurate to call Jesus the root of David.
Isaiah recognized both of these roles of the Savior, referring to Him as both the “stem of Jesse” (David’s father) and as “a root of Jesse.” See Isaiah 11:1, 10, 2 Nephi 21:1, 10; see also Doctrine and Covenants 113:1, 6.)
Jesus had a little fun with this apparent contradiction. After a group of Pharisees tried to stump Him with clever questions, He posed a question which they were unable to answer. After establishing that Christ would be a descendant of David, He quoted one of David’s psalms: “The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand” (Psalm 110:1). Jesus then asked, “If David then call him Lord, how is he his son?” (Matthew 22:41-46, Mark 12:35-37, Luke 20:41-44). Matthew tells us that this question not only baffled the Pharisees but silenced them as well—they stopped asking Him difficult questions after that. Mark observed that “the common people heard him gladly.” I imagine they enjoyed seeing the elite class, who seemed to have an answer for every question, however obscure, completely perplexed by this apparent contradiction in the scriptures.
At the end of the book of Revelation, Jesus identifies Himself using these contrasting titles: “I am the root and the offspring of David,” He says (Revelation 22:16, italics added). Earlier in the book, a heavenly being had called Jesus “the root of David” (Revelation 5:5). Now, He calls Himself both David’s root and his offspring: a literal descendant of David who was also the source of David’s life and spiritual power.
I hope you enjoy this musical setting of this verse by Robert Cundick, from the oratorio The Redeemer:
Today, I will be grateful for the many roles of the Savior, especially those that seem contradictory. I will be grateful that the Creator of heaven and earth came to earth as an infant and lived among us. The fact that He is both “root” and “offspring” is a testament to His love for us.